Sudan People's Liberation Army

The Sudan People's Liberation Army (SPLA) is the army of South Sudan and a former guerrilla movement, founded in 1983. John Garang led the SPLA in a guerrilla war against the government of Sudan during the Second Sudanese Civil War from April 1983 to January 2005, with its ranks being filled with Christian and animist Dinka and Nuer soldiers that were opposed to the ruling Afro-Arabs' implementation of sharia law across Sudan. The SPLA grew to have 210,000 soldiers in 2013, with each division having 10,000-14,000 soldiers. The SPLA was later divided between the pro-government Dinkas and the Sudan People's Liberation Movement-in-Opposition (SPLM-IO) Nuers during the South Sudanese Civil War after 15 December 2013 in a bloody sectarian conflict, and the United Nations was accused of sheltering and helping rebels during the struggle against the SPLA forces.